‘Bizarre housing market’: Las Vegas home prices rise, listings fall

Home sale prices continued to inch upward in the Las Vegas Valley while listings saw a large drop in October from the previous year, according to the latest data from Las Vegas Realtors.

Listings were down 38 percent in October from the same month in 2022, which is a small drop from September of this year, 0.9 percent, according to new data that was pulled from the Multiple Listings Service. And the low number of listings is pushing the average list price for a home in the valley up. In fact, list prices jumped 2.6 percent from September, which is an 18.3 percent rise from October of last year.

The median list price for a single-family home also is close to hitting a benchmark, as it currently sits just below a half-million dollars at $499,000.

Las Vegas real estate sales are on pace for their worst year since the Great Recession in 2008, and Las Vegas Realtors President Lee Barrett said the macroeconomic climate of the Federal Reserve trying to cool inflation continues to dampen the market.

“The historically tight housing supply we’ve been dealing with this year, along with the cyclical patterns we see almost every year around this time, seem to be propping up prices,” Barrett said. “We usually see home prices and sales cool down a bit along with the weather as we head into the fall and winter. We’ll see how these traditional trends play out this year. Higher interest rates and a smaller housing supply are playing a bigger role than in past years.”

The number of homes sold in October also was down from the previous month, a 6.7 percent drop, and down 1.5 percent from October 2022. The total value of homes sold in the valley for the month of October was $922 million.

Las Vegas real estate has been marred by a supply pinch for both resale and new-build homes, with potential sellers locked into low mortgage rates and construction hampered by high interest rates. Las Vegas is currently bucking a national trend according to Redfin — an online real estate brokerage — as close to 7 percent of all homes for sale nationwide posted a price drop during the four weeks leading up to November.

“Another reason for rising sale prices is that despite slow demand, low inventory is propping up prices,” Redfin said in the release. “The total number of homes for sale is down 10 percent year over year, new listings are up 1 percent from a year ago — just the second increase since July 2022 — but that’s partly due to new listings falling quickly at this time last year.”

Redfin acknowledged the current housing market is like one they’ve never seen before.

“Price drops becoming more prevalent than ever while prices continue increasing illustrates today’s bizarre housing market. Redfin agents describe a mismatch between sellers’ high expectations and the reality of buyers’ budgets.”

Mortgage rates hit their highest level in 23 years two weeks ago, however, have now cooled to 7.5 percent for a 30-year fixed rate.

Contact Patrick Blennerhassett at pblennerhassett@reviewjournal.com.